Patentable/Patents/US-8015583
US-8015583

Method and system for pricing a programming event viewed by subscriber group

PublishedSeptember 6, 2011
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

A method and apparatus for group billing purchasers of transmitted programming events is provided. In one embodiment, a subscriber group includes two or more individual subscribers who receive programming from a programming provider. The individual subscribers periodically elect to view a program provided via the program provider. The program is provided on a pay-per-view basis, meaning that the program provider requires a sum of money to be paid in order to view the program. The sum of money is determined according to the number of viewers in a single subscriber group. In one embodiment, the subscribers interact during a program via a network connection.

Patent Claims
1 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. A method for determining a price of a program transmitted by a programming provider to subscribers, comprising: receiving, via a network connection, a purchase order for a program from a subscriber belonging to a subscriber group defined by two or more subscribers, wherein each subscriber belonging to the subscriber group maintains an independent account with the programming provider whereby the subscriber pays the programming provider in order to receive paid for programming, wherein each subscriber belonging to the subscriber group may elect to purchase or not purchase the program, and wherein the programming provider maintains a plurality of subscriber groups, wherein each group includes a subset of subscribers and wherein members of each subscriber group are determined prior to an offer to purchase the program; offering, to a first subscriber group of the plurality of subscriber groups, the program to purchase at a predetermined price; determining a first price for the purchase order if the program has been purchased by a threshold number of subscribers belonging to the first subscriber group; and determining a second price, higher than the first price, if the program has not been purchased by the threshold number of subscribers belonging to the first subscriber group, wherein the threshold number of subscribers belonging to the first subscriber group purchasing the program is all the subscribers of the first subscriber group.

Classification Codes (CPC)

Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.

Patent Metadata

Filing Date

December 27, 2000

Publication Date

September 6, 2011

Want to explore more patents?

Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.

Citation & reuse

Analysis on this page is generated by Patentable — an AI-powered patent intelligence platform. AI-generated summaries, explanations, and analysis may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL below. Patent abstracts and claims are USPTO public domain.

Cite as: Patentable. “Method and system for pricing a programming event viewed by subscriber group” (US-8015583). https://patentable.app/patents/US-8015583

© 2026 Patentable. All rights reserved.

Patentable is a research and drafting-assistant tool, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Documents we generate are drafts for review by a licensed patent attorney.